A number of applications exist where it is desireable to automatically and at high speed provide a preselected mix of sheets having differing characteristics. For example, banks conventionally cash checks for customers by providing an appropriate mix of paper currency whose sum equals the sum of the amount recited on the check. As another example, in a commercial or business transaction, a purchase of an item may be made by payment in a bill of a denomination greater than the amount of the purchase necessitating that the commercial establishment provide the purchaser with a predetermined mix of paper currency whose sum represents the difference between the purchase price and the paper currency received from the customer.
The above transactions are typically performed manually which, in addition to being a slow and tedious process, also necessitates that the teller (in the case of a bank) or sales person (in the case of a retail establishment) perform an important mental calculation to be assured that the amount of currency is correct and further to count the bills making up the currency mix. Even the slightest distraction can be sufficient to affect the accuracy of the count, to the detriment of either the payer or the payee.
It is therefore desireable to mechanize this process to the greatest practicable extent.